How often are people injured in vehicle collisions in West Hollywood?

Short answer: About 250 times a year on average or five times a week, with over 300 people injured and one or two fatalities in most years

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Last week, the US Department of Transportation warned that traffic deaths nationwide jumped 10% in the first half of 2016, after rising 7% in 2015. That made us wonder how often vehicle collisions injure or kill people in West Hollywood and whether the number has jumped.

Number of injury or fatal collisions

The chart below shows the number of collisions in West Hollywood causing injury or death. The average over the whole period is about 250 collisions per year, or five a week.

The dotted line is a three-year rolling average. It looks like the rolling average has increased somewhat over the years. However, we don’t see clear evidence of the recent jump in the national numbers. The variability in the data for West Hollywood makes it hard to know for sure what the trend is.

Notes: The years are Federal fiscal years, which run from October 1 to September 30. The number for 2016 is our estimate, based on two assumptions: (1) it takes a month on average for collisions to be recorded in the database and (2) the best estimate of a missing month is the average of the other 11 months. Sources: California Highway Patrol, Office of Traffic Safety, customized reports from the SWITRS database, October 9-10, 2016; our analysis.

The data comes from the California Highway Patrol (CHP), which collects reports from local agencies. Sometimes CHP’s numbers are incomplete. We omitted the 2014 numbers for West Hollywood because they’re missing at least three months of data. We estimated the total for the year ending September 30, 2016, because we believe that some recent collisions haven’t made it into the database yet.

Number of people injured

Over 300 people have been injured in vehicle collisions in West Hollywood in most years.

Note: We’ve excluded the 2014 number because at least three months of data are missing. Sources: Same as above.

In most years, West Hollywood has one or two collision fatalities. Based on the CHP data, there were no fatalities in 2004, 2008, and 2012.

Note: We know of at least one fatality in 2014, but, because of missing data, we’re not sure if there were more. Sources: Same as above.

Collision rate compared to other cities

From October 2014 to September 2015, there were 283 injury/fatal collisions in West Hollywood based on the CHP data. In the same period, Beverly Hills had two-thirds more (482). Culver City, a slightly larger city, had fewer (247).

We adjusted the number of collisions for population. The pattern was the same. The collision rate was higher in Beverly Hills and lower in Culver City. It was even lower in Los Angeles (the whole city) and Santa Monica.

Sources: Same as above; California Department of Finance city population estimates.

We also tried adjusting the number of collisions for vehicle miles traveled. The range narrowed, but Beverly Hills and West Hollywood remained highest and second-highest out of the five. Culver City’s rate was the lowest of the five.

Sources: Same as above; Caltrans, California Public Road Data 2014 for vehicle miles traveled.

Short answer: About 250 times a year on average or five times a week, with over 300 people injured and one or two fatalities in most years|
Last week, the US Department of Transportation warned that traffic deaths nationwide jumped 10% in the first half of 2016, after rising...

DavidWarrendavid_warren@post.harvard.eduAdministratorWeHo by the Numbers

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reports using data to explore city government policy, performance, and community issues. Focused on West Hollywood (WeHo), Beverly Hills, Culver City, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica. Researched and written by David Warren as a private citizen. This is not a government website.